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Friday, August 24, 2012

The slow people

We all get old. For most of us, it just sneaks up.
We don't run as fast as we used to. When we get up the next day after a
tough sporting match or workout we are sore all over. We put on a few
extra pounds here and there and they don't go away. Hair turns gray or
begins to fall out.
But, we are keenly aware of all of that. Most of us are not aware of a
harsh reality that will get all of us sooner or later. We become the
"slow people".
On the street, you are the ones that others try to time so they can pass
you as you are walking so they can maintain their pace. In the car, you
are the one that jams everyone else up, and you are totally oblivious
to it. At the movies or in the mall, when the big gathering ends and it
is time to leave, you are the slow one going down the steps that
everyone can't wait to get by.
When you are one of the fast people, you are keenly aware of the slow
people. At some point, you will become one of the slow people. But what
is puzzling is that moment when you switch sides. You suddenly don't
have that need to pass others. It seems the world has now found the same
speed of motion as you have. Then you realize that others behind you
are looking to pass you. That had never happened before. For some of us,
we don't notice that pivotal point when we switch sides, only that now
we are now on the other side.
I wonder if I will notice when it is my turn to switch sides. I wonder
if it has already happened and I just haven't noticed yet. I am still
passing a majority of the people on the street and pretty much no one
passes me in a car, so I don't think it has yet. But it will.